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Help! (Distorted Sound Playing MP3's in Serato)


OKJoy

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https://youtu.be/S2WO9RTFjlE

 

I'm on SL1, Serato 2.5.0.

 

So at first I thought this was due to bass resonance from having my decks too close to the speakers at a gig. But I brought them home and this problem still crops up. Sometimes I see that dust builds up and after I clear the dust from the needle it plays arlight.

 

Check out the vid so you know what it sounds like.

 

I bought 3rd party m44-7 needles from Ebay and they have this same distortion the whole entire time, the worn out shure ones I'm using sound better.

 

I got a 2 day gig coming up on Saturday and Sunday, I would hate to have to be in INT mode the whole time

 

I'm gonna be buying new control vinyl and needles tomorrow to see if that fixes this.

 

I haven't been DJing gigs that long, really more of a producer. if anyone got any advice it would be much appreciated!

Edited by OKJoy
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That kind of warbling distortion can happen if the control vinyl is dirty.

 

I once spilled a drink on one of my control records and even though I thought I'd cleaned it up, in certain spots it would do that warbling. When I looked at the vinyl in direct sunlight I could see that there were spots where the record wasn't clean and the drink had dried in the groove. Cleaning it with a liquid vinyl cleaner sorted it.

 

That said, in your video it's like a constant thing and you say that using an old worn out Shure improves things, so it could be the 3rd party needles.

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Man, it sounds like your computer is distorting due to lack of power or pending software updates. Does Serato redline at all when you're using control vinyl? If so, there may be imminent software updates that need to be made on your computer, or it's just plain underpowered.

 

Does it make the same distorted noise on regular records?

 

If indeed the control vinyl is distorting your sound and you don't have access to vinyl record cleaner, you can make your own quickly and on the cheap. You can cop a spray bottle, rubbing alcohol and distilled water at Walmart for about $3, then mix it together. I believe you use 80% or 90% rubbing alcohol with 10% or %20 distilled water. Spray your records with that shit and wipe it off with a good cloth, something that isn't prone to leaving residue. Wife-beater t-shirts work well :-/

 

Good luck.

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Thank you so much to everyone who replied this topic, I bought new control vinyl and ortofon needles. So I couldn't get the ortofon's to work, but the great news is that the 3rd party m44-7 needles I bought on Ebay work on the new control vinyl! So I'm going to return the ortofon's tomorrow.

 

How does your calibration signal look like?

To me it looks the incoming signal isn't correct...

 

Nice that Flattop video on your channel :)

dude I'm impressed you know who Flattop is. I went to LA in 2006 hoping to see him live at universal studios. Unfortunately we went to the main office and they said he didn't show up to work! Damn, our response was "can we at least see what his signature looks like?" :((

 

 

That kind of warbling distortion can happen if the control vinyl is dirty.

 

I once spilled a drink on one of my control records and even though I thought I'd cleaned it up, in certain spots it would do that warbling. When I looked at the vinyl in direct sunlight I could see that there were spots where the record wasn't clean and the drink had dried in the groove. Cleaning it with a liquid vinyl cleaner sorted it.

 

That said, in your video it's like a constant thing and you say that using an old worn out Shure improves things, so it could be the 3rd party needles.

Looks like you were right dude, lesson learned, my control records needed replacing

 

Man, it sounds like your computer is distorting due to lack of power or pending software updates. Does Serato redline at all when you're using control vinyl? If so, there may be imminent software updates that need to be made on your computer, or it's just plain underpowered.

 

Does it make the same distorted noise on regular records?

 

If indeed the control vinyl is distorting your sound and you don't have access to vinyl record cleaner, you can make your own quickly and on the cheap. You can cop a spray bottle, rubbing alcohol and distilled water at Walmart for about $3, then mix it together. I believe you use 80% or 90% rubbing alcohol with 10% or %20 distilled water. Spray your records with that shit and wipe it off with a good cloth, something that isn't prone to leaving residue. Wife-beater t-shirts work well :-/

 

Good luck.

 

thats awesome to know, thanks for sharing that knowledge!

Edited by OKJoy
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Greart, problem solved!

Still i dont trust DVS a 100%, with Traktor and a Z2 i still suffer calibration issues so now and then, new needles, new vinyls, wiring in good condition

I always suspected the incoming signal would be to low, before i switched to the PDX's, i had phono amps installed a few years ago to get rid of that...it worked but all those wires are annoying even while sitting in flightcases

Now back on my SL's again its still not a 100% but got rid of the phono amps

 

To me Flattop is a legend, although i dont have a clue about him, saw a VHS of him like 2 decades ago, shit was mindblowing

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@cutdisco - Are you using a PC or a Mac? I'm using Traktor and a Z2 too, running on a MacBook Pro. I had mad issues when I was running it on a PC, even with 16 Gigs of RAM, so I switched to a Mac and haven't had any problems since. However, it's important to note that I haven't been digital DJn much lately 'cause I just wanna cut. I love Traktor, although I don't like the boot up process, plus DVS in general is just too easy. Really like rockin' real records — I respect it more. It's nice to be able to DJ immediately as well. Fuck I miss record shopping and coming home with new wax...I was always excited to play.

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Hey Jhouse, i use it on OSX, i ran it over 3 MBP's and 5 turntabels the last years, always the same issues so i never got to the point that made me trust Traktor

For the rest similar feelings, while booting...it makes me grab an old boogerbreak, its way faster :-P

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Hmmm, that's good to know. Actually, I'm sketched to take on long parties/wedding gigs 'cause I'm not really confident in Traktor. It's really fun for trick mixing, juggling and even cuttin', but I need serious stability if I'm going to play 6+ hour gigs. More and more it seems I need to go Serato and a Pioneer s9, but it's hard to justify since I seldom use my DVS anyway and I'm not really looking for gigs. Ugh. Fuck, I just wanna use real records.

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